TOKYO, June 3 (Reuters) - Gold was steady on Wednesday at just over $980 per ounce, with a weakening U.S. dollar supporting demand for bullion as a hedge against deterioration of dollar-denominated portfolios. FUNDAMENTALS * Gold was at $981.30 at 0008 GMT, up 0.1 percent from New York's notional close of $980.85 on Tuesday, when it rose as high as $986.40, off a three-month high above $988 marked on Monday. * U.S. gold futures for August delivery GCQ9 fell 0.1 percent to $983.60 per ounce from Tuesday's $984.40 settlement on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. * The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the SPDR Gold Trust GLD, said its holdings stayed unchanged on June 2 from a record 1,134.03 tonnes marked the previous day. [GOL/SPDR] * The world's largest silver-backed exchange-traded fund, the iShares Silver Trust SLV, said its bullion holdings fell 3.11 tonnes from a record 8,608.54 tonnes on Monday, when it rose by 260.36 tonnes. [ID:nT100072] * Gold and gold receivables held by euro zone central banks fell by 6 million euros to 240.784 billion euros in the week ending May 29, the ECB said on Tuesday. [ID:nFAE003057] MARKET NEWS * The dollar stayed near a low for the year versus the euro after strong U.S. housing sales data the previous day fuelled optimism about the global economy, eroding safe-haven demand for the dollar. [USD/] [ID:nN02504191] * U.S. stocks rose for a fourth straight day on Tuesday as an upbeat report on home sales bolstered hopes for an economic recovery as well as shares in construction companies. [.N] * Japan's benchmark Nikkei average .N225 was 0.6 percent higher. [.T] DATA EVENTS - Fed Chairman Bernanke testifies (1400 GMT) * The following data is expected on Wednesday: ECON - Australia Q1 GDP (0130 GMT) - Euro zone May final Markit services PMI (0758 GMT) - Euro zone Q1 revised GDP (0900 GMT) - Euro zone Apirl PPI (0900 GMT) - U.S. ADP employment report for May (1215 GMT) - U.S. factory orders for April (1400 GMT) - U.S. ISM non-manufacturing for May (1400 GMT) RELATED NEWS > US, Japan, Germany see more positive signs [ID:nSP470185] > Credit Suisse suggests Gold ETF call spread [ID:nN02493260] > Commodities markets ease on profit-taking [COM/WRAP] > S.Africa miners to decide any protest by yr-end[ID:nL21006490] > Palladium miner sees price, demand rising [ID:nN02142125] > A little hope a dangerous things for comms [ID:nSP392747] PRICES Precious metals prices at 0012 Metal Last Change Pct chg Day ago pct MA 30 RSI Spot gold $981.20 $0.35 +0.04% +9.39% $860.10 77 Spot silver $15.96 $0.02 +0.13% +33.22% $11.29 82 Spot plat $1234.00 -$4.50 -0.36% +2.11% $1139.73 80 COMEX gold $983.30 $7.40 +0.76% +0.41% $930.39 85 TOCOM gold 3,024 -4 -0.13% +0.03% 2,901 80 TOCOM plat 3,818 33 +0.87% +2.33% 3,549 77 Currencies Euro/dlr $1.428 -$0.002 -0.13% +0.85% Dlr/yen 95.44 -0.21 -0.22% -1.16% TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.

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